The African ancestors of today’s black Americans were brought
to the U. S. as slaves in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
They worked on farms, especially the large farms in the (36)
states. Slowly they became a (37) part of the
economic system of the South. Slaves did not have the rights of
people. According to the law, they were "things" which belonged to the person
who bought them. They had to (38) the orders of their owners
without question. They were not allowed to learn to read; their owners feared
that (39) slaves would begin to think about the injustice of
the system and would learn to struggle for their (40) .
Slaves had to work long hours in extremely unhealthy conditions. Their owners
had complete power over them. They could be bought and Sold like animals at the
slave markets, black children were (41) from their parents
and never saw them again. Slave owners had the fight to punish severely any
slave who broke rules or (42) against the system. Slaves were
often beaten (43) by their owners or killed. (44)
. There was a law against brutality to slaves, so (45)
. In practice, however, the law meant nothing. (46)
.
【参考答案】
Another law said that slaves could not give evidence against......